11 Jun
On Sunday 26 May, the big sport climbing competition of the year had finally arrived: EPlaKKa.
Some train for years and try to be in top form, others cycle 60 km (Emile) in advance to start the race exhausted. But it doesn't matter at Eplakka, as long as it's a fun game.
The qualifying round this year consisted of 10 routes, between 5b and 7a. Two routes used the same rope, which caused some traffic jam and some clammy hands towards the end of the qualifying round. After a well-prepared meal, all finalists were ready to show how far they could get in the final routes.
For the beginners final a nice 6b route was built that the participants had to climb top rope. Unfortunately Noortje Donkervoet and Laurens Nauta were just outside the prizes. Leander van Eekelen and Robin Kwant became second and third, and with Martijn Barella as clear winner.
Among the ladies were Sanne Maas, Isabelle Franklin, Famke Boschman and Mirte verdaasdonk (in this order) in the finals. The final route was a 7a + and had to be lead climbed. The ranking from the qualification has not been maintained. Isabelle had knocked Sanne off her first place and became the winner of the ladies. Sanne became second, Famke third and Mirte stayed just next to the podium.
During the qualification, one of the men's favorites, Bram van Kasteren, unfortunately suffered from an injury. Paul Flintrop was the first to be qualified, followed by Erik Verhoeven and Nourdin Kaai in a shared second place, with Wouter Bles as the gate closing. The final route was a 7b + that caused some (unjustified) fearful faces in the participants in advance. Wouter ended in the fourth place and Erik claimed the bottom of the podium. For the first place it was an exciting battle between Paul and Nourdin. At the end, Paul could call himself the proud owner of the Bak.
All in all a successful day with an exciting but fun competition!
On behalf of the EPlaKKa committee we want to thank all climbers and helpers for this successful day!
Furthermore we would like to thank Klimwinkel for sponsoring the first prices and Neoliet for making the hall available.